Gear shifters of this character, having shift levers mounted on the vehicular steering column with two different kinds of motion for driving direction and speed ratio, are known from German Pat. No. 2,502,578 and German published application No. 1,804,125 for example. Conventional shift levers disposed in the vicinity of the steering wheel, however, are sometimes difficult to operate, especially with mechanical coupling to the gear transmission of the vehicle. With a large number of speed ratios, such as four in each direction, they often require large swing angles and their shift positions are not always readily ascertainable by the driver.